Stirring whip handles



April 25, 1961 FIG. 1

IN V EN TOR. [A WRENCEE 00AL oW/M ATTORNEY United States Patent STIRRING WHIP HANDLES Lawrence E. Egedal, 2580 N. Frederick Ave., Milwaukee, Wis.

Filed .Ian. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 789,942

Claims. (Cl. 189-36) The present invention relates to wire structures or assemblies adapted for use as utensil handles and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a clamped wire structure, such as for a stirring whip handle, including improved means cooperating with wires thereof for firmly holding or locking the wires in spaced assembled relation.

Another object is to provide a wire structure in which the holding or locking means comprises apertured retaining members which are pressed together in the direction of the wires for tightly gripping the wires.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

This application constitutes a division of 'my application for Stirring Whips, Serial No. 674,650, filed July 29, 1957.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a stirring whip having a handle constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the whip handle on an enlarged scale, parts being broken away and parts being shown in-section;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the whip handle, taken generally on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional view, on a still larger scale, of the end portion of the whip handle, the view being taken in the same plane as Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view showing parts of the whip handle during the assembling operation, the view being on the same scale as Fig. 4 and in the same plane as Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View of a pair of aligned perforated wire retaining or clamping rings as they appear before application of the wires.

In the drawing, 10 designates a group or cluster of reversely bent resilient wires, such as of music wire steel or stainless steel. The intermediate portions of the wires are in the form of rounded loops 11, and the bent wires are arranged in different angularly related planes, the looped portions of the assembled wires forming a bulbous stirring end of the whip.

The end portions 12 of the wires are parallel and 'arranged with their axes equally spaced in a cylindrical pattern, the parallel end portions of each reversely bent wire being diametrically opposite, and the several parallel Wire portions 12 being positioned and confined by apertured retaining means hereinafter described to form an elongated cage-like tubular handle of generally cylindrical shape. The retaining means is here shown to comprise a plurality of coaxial circular rings or annular members 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 with rounded edges. The rings 16 and 17 are in axial abutment with each other and are disposed at the outer end of the handle. The rings 13 and 14 are also in axial abutment with each other and are spaced from the outer endof the handle. The ring 15 is an intermediate ring spaced about midway between the rings 14 and 16. The several rings have respective circular series of equally spaced bores 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 extending parallel to the axes of the rings. The hole circles of the rings 13, 15, and 17 are of the same diameter, while the hole circles of the rings 14 and 16 have a diameter a few thousandths of an inch smaller. The corresponding holes of each pair of the axially abutting rings, being slightly offset in a radial direction, provide a pinching eifect on the wires where they pass through these rings. In the endmost ring 17 the bores 22 do not extend completely through the ring and thus form cylindrical pockets for receiving and concealing the cut ends of the wires. The cage-like tubular handle forms therein an axially extending space which is laterally bounded by the wires of the handle and opens endwise of the handle.

In assembling the stirring whip, the apertured retainer rings 13 to 17 are passed in succession over the parallel end portions 12 of the looped wires. The ring 14 is pressed along the wires-into abutment with the ring 13, and the end ring 17 is pressed along the Wires into abutment with the ring 16, thus pinching the wires and tightly holding or locking the rings in position. Instead of pressing the end ring 17 towards the ring 16, it is usually desirable to employ a reversed procedure in which the ring 16 is pressed towards the end ring 17, since the wires are bottomed in the end ring. Fig. 5 shows the wire-retaining rings 13 and 14 before they are pressed together. The abutting retaining rings are elastically stressed by the wires extending through them, thus providing a firm mutual gripping action on the rings and wires. Preferably, the rings are also bonded to the wires, and the abutting rings are bonded together, by a suitable bonding agent 23, such as tin solder, which seals the crevices. In the case of a Whip made of music wire steel and soft steel rings, the assembly is preferably plated with a rust-resistant metal such as nickel, the plating also having a bonding eifect and filling crevices. In the case of stainless steel wires the retainer rings may be made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy, and a plating operation is not necessary. A suitable type of bonding agent or adhesive which may be used for the latter assembly is that known as Loctite, manufactured by The American Sealants Company of Hartford, Conn. This is supplied in the form of a thin resinous liquid which will penetrate into small crevices, and which sets to a solid state. In any of the above described constructions where the wires are bonded to the retainer rings, it is possible to use single rings instead of the double rings. In use, the stirring whip is grasped by its cage-like tubular handle, the spaced Wire portions 12 of which present a non-slip gripping surface. The cage-like handle can be easily cleaned, and if desired a cleaning brush can be inserted into the open end of the handle for contact with the wires and rings. The open-ended handle also provides for ventilation of the hand portions grasping the handle.

The various retainer rings and their hole patterns are preferably of circular shape, as shown, although in some instances they may have other shapes, such as elliptical.

I claim: v 1. In a wire structure, a group of parallel wires with their axes arranged in a generally cylindrical pattern, and retainer members each having a circular series of bores in which the wires extend and are secured, a pair of said retainer members being in axial abutment in the direction of said wires with their axes colinear and having their corresponding wire-receiving bores offset in a radial direction in an amount slightly greater than the difference between the bore diameter and the wire diameter to provide a pinching and locking action where the wires pass through said abutting retainer members.

2. In a wire structure, a group of parallel wires with their axes arranged in a generally circular pattern, and retaining means for said Wires comprising annular retaining members each having a circular series of correspondingly arranged parallel bores in which said wires extend, a pair of said retainer members being initially slidable on said wire to permit relative axial displacement of said members into end to end abutment with each other, said pair of retaining members having their corresponding wire-receiving bores radially offset with respect to each other in an amount slightly greater than the difference between the bore diameter and the wire diameter to provide a pinching action on the wires where the wires engage the abutted members, whereby to frictionally lock said wires to said members when said members are pressed axially into abutment.

3. In a Wire structure, a group of parallel wires, and retaining means cooperating with said wires and comprising a pair of retainer members each having a plurality of bores through which the wires extend, said pair of members having their corresponding wire-receiving bores offset with respect to each other in an amount slightly greater than the difference between the bore diameter and the wire diameter, the offset of one set of corresponding wire-receiving bores being in a different direction than the oifset of another set to provide a pinching and locking action on the wires where the wires pass through said abutting members, the locking action on said wires also holding said retainer members in their abutting relation.

4. In a wire structure, a plurality of parallel wires, and retaining means cooperating with said wires and com prising a pair of retainer members having correspondingly arranged parallel bores in which said wires extend, said retainer members being initially slidable on said wires to permit relative axial displacement of said members into axial abutment with each other in the direction of said wires, said retainer members having their corresponding wire-receiving bores offset with respect to each other in an amount slightly greater than the difference between the bore diameter and the wire diameter, the oifset of one set of corresponding wire-receiving bores being in one direction and the offset of another set of bores being in a different direction to provide a pinching action on the wires Where the wires engage the abutted retainer members, whereby to frictionally lock said wires to said members and to lock said members together when said members are pressed axially into abutment.

5. In a wire structure, a plurality of parallel wires, and retaining means cooperating with said wires and comprising a pair of retainer members having correspondingly arranged parallel bores in which said wires extend, said retainer members being initially slidable on said wires to permit relative axial displacement of said members into axial abutment with each other in the direction of said wires, said retainer members having their corresponding wire-receiving bores offset with respect to each other in an amount slightly greater than the difference between the bore diameter and the wire dimeter, the offset of one pair of corresponding Wire-receiving bores being in one direction, and the offset of another pair of bores being in another direction, to provide a pinching action on the wires where the wires engage the abutted retainer members, whereby to frictionally lock said wires to said members and to lock said members together when said members are pressed axially into abutment, at least one of said retainer members being of annular shape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 409,616 Richardson Aug. 20, 1889 565,260 Cook Aug. 4, 1896 2,134,350 Woolley Oct. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 140,719 Germany Apr. 25, 1903 549,084 Germany Apr. 22, 1922 

